NAME

       openssl-passphrase-options - Pass phrase options

SYNOPSIS

       openssl command [ options ... ] [ parameters ... ]

DESCRIPTION

       Several OpenSSL commands accept password arguments, typically using -passin and -passout for input and
       output passwords respectively. These allow the password to be obtained from a variety of sources. Both of
       these options take a single argument whose format is described below. If no password argument is given
       and a password is required then the user is prompted to enter one: this will typically be read from the
       current terminal with echoing turned off.

       Note that character encoding may be relevant, please see passphrase-encoding(7).

OPTIONS

   Pass Phrase Option Arguments
       Pass phrase arguments can be formatted as follows.

       pass:password
           The  actual  password  is password. Since the password is visible to utilities (like 'ps' under Unix)
           this form should only be used where security is not important.

       env:var
           Obtain the password from the environment variable var. Since the environment of  other  processes  is
           visible  on  certain  platforms  (e.g.  ps  under  certain Unix OSes) this option should be used with
           caution.

       file:pathname
           Reads the password from the specified file pathname, which can be a regular file,  device,  or  named
           pipe. Only the first line, up to the newline character, is read from the stream.

           If the same pathname argument is supplied to both -passin and -passout arguments, the first line will
           be used for the input password, and the next line will be used for the output password.

       fd:number
           Reads  the  password from the file descriptor number. This can be useful for sending data via a pipe,
           for example. The same line handling as described for  file:  applies  to  passwords  read  from  file
           descriptors.

           fd: is not supported on Windows.

       stdin
           Reads  the  password  from  standard  input. The same line handling as described for file: applies to
           passwords read from standard input.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2000-2024 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

       Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License").  You may not use this file  except  in  compliance
       with  the  License.   You  can  obtain  a  copy  in  the  file  LICENSE  in the source distribution or at
       <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

3.4.1                                              2025-04-03                   OPENSSL-PASSPHRASE-OPTIONS(1SSL)